Albion is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza") is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United S ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It is located south of

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, at an elevation of . Albion had a population of 153 at the 2020 census.

Toponym

Albion was named in 1844, as a reference to when

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

landed on the northern California coast and called it "New Albion".

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

was an ancient name for

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word ''albus'', meaning "white", a reference to the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

Geography

Albion lies directly on California's State Route 1 (Shoreline Highway) north of

Elk The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. ...

and south of Mendocino and

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

. It lies just north of the intersection of State Route 1 with State Route 128. Albion Ridge Road leads east from the town center. The side roads on Albion Ridge Road are labeled from B through Q. The nearest beaches include Navarro Beach to the south and Handley Beach at the head of Albion Ridge Road. Vegetation includes coastal headlands, with

California redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995: 606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coast ...

forests and

pygmy forest A "natural National Park in the Philippines, a UNESCO World Heritage Site file:Mount Kemiri (8187817161).jpg, An elfin forest in Sumatra's Gunung Leuser National Park Dwarf forest, elfin forest, or pygmy forest is an uncommon ecosystem feat ...

s nearby. Albion has two bridges, one spanning the

Albion River The Albion River is an river in Mendocino County, California. The river drains about on the Mendocino Coast and empties into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Albion, California, where California State Route 1 crosses it on the Albion River ...

and the other Little Salmon Creek. The Albion River Bridge, built in 1944 when steel and concrete were in short supply, remains as the last wooden bridge still in use on State Route 1. The ZIP Code is 95410. The community is inside

area code 707 Area codes 707 and 369 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. The area codes serve part of the northern San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the North Coast. ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the CDP covers an area of , of which , or 2.0%, are water.

Schools

The town belongs to the

Mendocino Unified School District Mendocino Unified School District is a public school district in Mendocino County, California, United States. In addition to Mendocino, the district includes Albion, Caspar, Comptche, and Little River Little River may refer to several places ...

, and children attend Albion Elementary School or Mendocino K-8 School until third grade, then Mendocino K-8 School and Mendocino High School. The Albion Biological Field Station, a facility of

Pacific Union College Pacific Union College (PUC) is a private university, private Seventh-day Adventist Church, Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Angwin, California. It is the only four-year college in Napa Cou ...

(a private

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

) is located in Albion, on the south bank of the Albion River; it offers college biology courses to Pacific Union students as well as shorter courses for elementary and high school students and seniors.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Albion had a population of 153. The population density was . The racial makeup of Albion was 92.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.0%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.7% Native American, 0.0% Asian, 1.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.3% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 3.9% of the population. The census reported that 94.1% of the population lived in households, 5.9% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and none were institutionalized. There were 74 households, out of which 20.3% included children under the age of 18, 44.6% were married-couple households, 16.2% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 17.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 21.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 27.0% of households were one person, and 13.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.95. There were 46

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(62.2% of all households). The age distribution was 6.5% under the age of 18, 9.8% aged 18 to 24, 14.4% aged 25 to 44, 26.1% aged 45 to 64, and 43.1% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 60.3years. There were 80 males and 73 females. There were 111 housing units at an average density of , of which 74 (66.7%) were occupied. Of these, 71.6% were owner-occupied, and 28.4% were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, Albion is in , and . Federally, Albion is in .

References

External links

Albion California Travel Directory

{{Authority control Populated coastal places in California Census-designated places in Mendocino County, California Census-designated places in California